Writing.Com 101

Reviewing Credits

When a member awards a reviewer with Gift Points using the Public Reviews page  , Writing.Com assigns between 3 to 25 Reviewing Credits to the recipient. The number of credits assigned is based upon the size of the Gift Point award, the length of the review and other factors.

Reviewing Credits are valid for 31 days. This keeps each member's credits current with the level of activity he or she is putting forth within the community. This also allows for equal recognition of members regardless of paid membership status, portfolio level and/or account seniority.

Most Credited Reviewers
By tabulating the Reviewing Credits of our reviewers, Writing.Com ranks and displays the Most Credited Reviewers   within our community. This list can be found from within the Public Reviews page  . From the Most Credited Reviewers listing, you can view Public Reviews that a member has given, as shown in their Reviews tab.

Ranking is determined by combining the credits earned and the Reviewer Influence of those awarding Gift Points. Our Most Credited Reviewers list consists of the most active and influential Reviewers on Writing.Com.

Reviewer Influence
Defined by Webster's, influence is "the power of producing an effect without direct exercise of command." An expert in any given situation has more influence than does a novice. Therefore, the expert's opinions have more power for producing an effect than does a novice. This is due to the number of credits, such as degrees, experiences and recommendations, that an expert carries behind his or her name.

Some real life examples of more influence versus less in various situations where the expert's opinion has more power than the novice are:
          A Politician versus an Individual Voter in government.
          A Professor versus a Student in a classroom.
          A Licensed Expert versus a Part-time Hobbyist in a courtroom.
          A Doctor versus an Intern in the operating room.

Writing.Com has adopted this real world system of influence.

Members with more Reviewing Credits than others are treated as having a higher influence within the system. In other words, members who have been awarded Gift Points for helpful reviews will have more influence than members who have not received such awards. Compared to our above examples, those members with more influence are considered our "experts".

As with any expert, the opinion given is weighted more than that of a novice. When a member of influence sends Gift Points through the Public Reviews page, their influence magnifies the credits awarded by Writing.Com and the Gift Points they send are weighted higher than those given by a member who has not been awarded review credits. Essentially, we are automatically giving more credit to their opinion because other members have already assigned credit to them.

In addition, the reviewing system weights a member's portfolio level within the community as part of their influence. Preferred Authors are weighted higher than Registered Authors, Moderators higher than Preferred Authors and so on. The weighting given to each case is very slight (a fraction of a percentage), but this weighting does exist.

Using a mathematical algorithm, the system generates a "magic number" of influence for each member and multiplies the standard number of Reviewing Credits awarded by that number. The number of Gift Points given will not change depending on the amount of influence carried by the member, but the actual reviewing credits awarded may be higher.

About The System
This system is new, unique and proprietary to Writing.Com and, as such, will be enhanced and upgraded as time goes on. We are very proud of this innovative, interactive system and are quite excited to see where it leads!

This is a free system provided by Writing.Com. There is no fee for receiving the Reviewing Credits and 100% of the Gift Points are transferred from one member to another. Writing.Com does not take a commission for providing this service; its primary purpose is to promote good, honest, helpful reviewing among members of the community.

System Integrity
Incorrect usage of the Review Crediting system may be modified by staff to maintain system integrity. Attempts to cheat this system will not be tolerated. Writing.Com, in its sole discretion, will remove the influence of any members found to be intentionally or unintentionally cheating the system, unethically using the system to boost the position of him/herself/others or using the system in a way that is not consistent with maintaining a fair and balanced ranking system.

Since the reviews are public, if a member is found to be rewarding only specific individuals rather than reviewers as a whole, or is, in our sole opinion, cheating the system intentionally or not, that member will be removed from our Reviewing Credit system. He or she may still award Gift Points, but Writing.Com will not award any Reviewing Credits when that member awards a reviewer with Gift Points. Thus this member will no longer carry any influence. 1

Recommended Reading

1. Public Reviews
2. Gift Points

Footnotes
1  Written by The ScaryMaster